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Monday, April 28, 2014

Had quite a bit of rain last night and it was cloudy all morning, but the sun is peaking through this afternoon and the temps are headed for 78 degrees. Says now an isolated chance o thunderstorms.

Donna has the day watch at Walgreens today, and then is looking forward to her day off tomorrow, just a lazy day around the ranch today, I am putting off going for propane today, pretty sure I have one empty tank and one full one. I will fill the empty one before we leave. Hoping aside from the fridge while in travel mode, I won’t have much need for the furnace, we have a small electric heater we can use for the bedroom if we have to and save on propane.

Donna had a high school alumnae luncheon Saturday, She was in the Eureka Mo High School class of 1967.

Donna is second from right.

Over the weekend my New Jersey Grand Meghen and her Dads horse Dude, were Grand champions at the NJ Showdeo. We are so proud of her.

Meghen and Dude.

Rigg’s and his sis Sadie got in some prize winning snoozing here at the ranch.

Rigg’s and Sadie.

That about catches us up on the news around here, tomorrow I have my every 3 month Doctors checkup. and that’s about it. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna……

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Looks like our luck is holding out and we will be having a nice sunny day with temps in the mid 70’s today.

Went yesterday and had the tires replaced in my truck, so it is ready to head for Indiana.

My Son Andy and his girlfriend Samantha put up their new tent in the back yard yesterday, what do you think.

Reminds me of the old Duplexes where two families lived in one building.

What was Rigg’ doing while all this was going on.

Let’s play ball Dad.

How about a couple of Throwback Thursdays.

1978

Those were taken at the house we had in St Louis County before we moved out to the country in Dardenne Prairie in 1993.

Donna has the evening watch tonight at the restaurant,not much doing around here, will be starting the fridge in the fiver today and piddling around, might go and get some beer and stuff and start stocking the fiver for our trip, need to fill the water tank and test the water system for any leaks, toilet operation etc.

That’s about it for today,hope all is well with all our friends out there, Be safe. Sam & Donna……

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

We are having another nice mile sunny spring day here in Dardenne Prairie . The temperature is supposed to reach 70 degrees and the wind is gone.

My Son Andy and Samantha went garage sale browsing, and look what they found really cheap.

A Doggie tent.

Both Sadie and Rigg’s have inspected it and given it their approval. Of course Rigg’s is spoiled by all the nights he has stayed in our fiver. But the kid’s will have fun with it when they set it up when they are tent camping, They also found a new tent for themselves, and it is a beauty, two rooms and huge. They didn’t set that one up so I don’t have a picture of it yet.

Both Donna & my ten days are over, neither one of us could live through sleeping on the hard ground even with an air mattress. First thing we did when we bought the fiver we have now is put a pillow top queen mattress in it identical to what we sleep on at home.

Donna is enjoying her only day off and is making a pot roast, just the smell of it simmering makes you hungry.

One day over two weeks before we leave for the Rally in Indiana, made an appointment for truck tires for tomorrow. Then after that I have to call and see when John Deere will be ready, I had to put it in the shop because the steering was getting so hard you almost couldn’t turn it, while they were fixing that they found a blown head gasket. It was running pretty smooth and not backfiring, but they should know what they are looking at.

Anyway the grass is growing and I would like to get John back to cut it for the first time.

That’s about it for today, I hope all is well with all our friends out there, Be safe. Sam & Donna………

Thursday, April 17, 2014

We might see a little bit of warming today, with the afternoon temps supposed to get into the 60’s. It is sunny and nice just a bit of wind.

How about a Throwback Thursday?

Sam & Donna 1982.

Heidi & Donna 1987.

The days are going by fast we plan on leaving here May 8th and spending one night one night on the road to the Escapade in Goshen In. It is a six hour drive so we will stop someplace about and hour or two from Goshen, Since we have to check in before noon we don’t want to rush and have to leave at 04:00AM on the first day.

Looking forward to the parking detail, John & Bridgett Hatch are in charge this year, so we should have a great time together.

I am sure Rigg’s will be looking forward to his camping time, he will sleep on the couch while we are away parking cars. then will go with us to visit, he was really good at the last rally and made a lot of friends, He likes the Doggie show where he can show off.

Sometime next week I will have the tires replaced on the Duramax, everything else is ready for the trip.

Once the Rally is over we will move about an hour away to Fort Wayne and visit our Nephew and Niece and their family.

Then in June we have an RV couple from Israel , Dan & Shula Oren, who will be visiting with us in their fifth wheel, we are looking forward to meeting them an showing them some of the sights around St Louis.

That’s about it for today, hope all is well with all our friends out there, a lot of them are home from their snowbird trips, and others are still on the road. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna………..

Monday, April 14, 2014

Looks like we are in for some cold weather again, it’s cloudy and raining on and of today with a high of 45. The low for tonight is 29 with a chance of snow showers or freezing rain, what happened to our 80 degrees of two days ago. I was hoping the swimming pools would be warm enough to swim in in the middle of May for our trip. Usually it is warm enough here by May 15th and Memorial Day is a big pool weekend.

Donna is working the day watch at Walgreens today and looking forward to her day off tomorrow,

Both of the furkid’s are just laying around and not really interested in being outside.

What Rigg’s is doing today, laying around.

What Rigg’s is wishing he was doing today.

Here’s a Navy shot for Donna Caves Son Kelly who was aboard the JFK.

RA5-C from RVAH 14 USS John F Kennedy.

Not much doing around Dardenne Prairie today, haven’t even seen the Sheriff’s patrol drive by. We still have a local sheriff, but the County is thinking of making it a County Police Department.

The other day when I mentioned some of our Canadian friends had made it safely home I didn’t know that Elaine and Rick had also safely gotten home to Canada. Rick was just in time to shovel some snow.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Another great day for the weekend, sunny and lots of warm air, by noon it was 79 degrees, hope it stays like this, I put shorts and a tee shirt on and went down to the garage and fiver to do a couple of projects, first I took the battery maintainer off the fiver and plugged it into life support so the converter would run and then checked the meter inside and it showed both 120volt and 12 volts systems working normally, I then ran the slide out and made room to start a good clean up before we hit the road, I also stowed two small tables that Donna had put inside on the couch into one of the side compartments. Let the screen door open to air out the inside after being shut for the winter. After it charges overnight I will check the fridge and make sure it runs on gas and electric, and then fill the water tanks and change the valve for the bypass system so the water heater will fill, then I can test the pump and have all the systems ready, Also the stove and propane levels must be checked.

I then went into the garage and took the air compressor apart, a fitting was leaking air as fast as it would make it. I had to take the covers off, and then tightened and checked all the fittings then I fired it up and it ran up to 130lbs where it kicked off, I let some air out and it kicked back on so it is now working fine and I will be able to air up tires and use air tools again.

I see two of our Canadian friends have made it safely home, Al & Kelly have arrived back in Bayfield ON. and Rene & Jean have made it back to B.C. Only a couple left down here in the warmer states.

We are anxiously awaiting our trip next month to the Escapade.I still have to take the Duramax in and put 4 tires on it, last year I put 4 tires on the fiver, so we will be pretty well set for this year once the truck is done.

That’s about it for today, Hope all is well with all our friends out there. Be safe. Sam & Donna……

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Today is probably the best spring day so far sunny and the temps will be in the high 70’s. it was 70 at at 11:00AM. I am going to go out and start getting the fiver checked out for our next trip. I’ll take the battery minder off and put it on life support (shore power).

Donna saw our feral cat that lives under the big cedar tree in our yard, looks like it is hunting and keeping well fed. Rigg’s loves nothing better than to giver it the run.

Of course Rigg’s doesn’t let that interfere with his naps.

How about a Throwback Thursday.

Misty, Donna, & Sir Coal ca.1977.

Tonight Donna will have the evening shift at the restaurant,

Not much else doing here at the Ranch, we are just loving the beautiful day we are having.

Hope all is well with all our friends out there. Be safe , Sam & Donna………..

Monday, April 7, 2014

Been a cool and cloudy Monday with rain showers most of the day. Donna is working the day watch at Walgreens and then she has a Doctor’s appointment, so she will have a long day.

Went to pick up prescriptions this morning, and when I got home one of them looked completely different from the previous batch, the old ones were round and green and the new ones were oblong and white. It said the same drug name and size on the container. I called the pharmacy and after some checking, they said it was the same prescription just that the manufacturer, had changed the pill style.

Rigg’s wanted to show off his new pictures,

His selfie.

Rigg’s little sister Sadie picture.

He sure takes care of his little sis, he will lay next to her when she rests, and he will play with her even when she steals his toys, We are so lucky to have such a big boy with such a good personality. And handsome on top of it.

Tomorrow is Donna’s only day off, she has another different Doctor’s appointment, and then I have to put a headlight bulb in her Escape. It’s on the drivers side so I will have to take the battery out to change it, if not the battery is only about two inches behind it and there is no room to get it out. What a way to design a car, surely they knew the bulbs wouldn’t last the life of the car.

Not much else going on here in Dardenne Prairie still waiting for spring to get here, we are supposed to get up to 70 degrees on Thursday, we’ll see.

Hope all is well with all our friends , be safe out there. Sam & Donna………………

Saturday, April 5, 2014

We have a nice sunny mild spring day here in Dardenne Prairie .The temps are in the middle 50’s, plus the winds from the last couple of days have died down some.

Donna went out to breakfast with her girlfriend Renee this morning, Renee lost her husband at a very premature age I believe in his 40’s last year, and she called Donna and said lets get together I need someone to talk to. They have been besties since Renee used to work with her at the restaurant. I am glad they got out together.

Want to hear some good news, a Somali pirate boat attacked what it thought was a freighter off the Somalia coast, turns out the freighter was the Guided Missile Frigate USS Nicholas, a US Navy warship, the Nicholas sank the pirate boat and then found the mother ship and boarded it and arrested 5 more pirates. here is the link

Surprise, Surprise, A hearty Well Done to the crew of the USS Nicholas.FFG-47.

As an aside my son Tim was stationed aboard the sister ship of the Nicholas, the USS Rentz FFG 46, he was the gun captain of the ships 5in. mount which I am sure is what what used to sink a small pirate boat.

USS Rentz FFG-46.

My son Tim during Desert Storm aboard the USS Rentz.

I guess I can be a proud father once in awhile, he is now an accomplished hunter and fisherman and raising three girls in New Jersey. His oldest Daughter Allie, races sports cars, his stepgirls Katy & Meghen are into horse’s,surfing, hunting, fishing, karate, Katy also plays the piano. I am a proud Grandpaw too.

Well that’s about it for today, hope all is well with all our friends out there, even the one’s heading home to cold Canada, we have a month to go until the Rally in Indiana, have to be there on May 8th.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Another day of severe thunderstorms, a tornado touched down in St Louis County across the river from us in University City, luckily nobody was hurt, a lot of homes damaged though. Looks like the tornado season is starting early. Here at the ranch we must have had a couple inches of soaking rain the ground is saturated and we have some standing water in the low places around our property.

Donna has the night shift tonight at the restaurant.

How about a Throwback Thursday.

Sam & Donna 1982.

Donna 1982.

Boy were we young like that. Time fly’s when your having fun. In May we will be married 35 years.

I am so proud of our pups Rigg’s and Sadie, neither one I afraid of thunder or bad storms.

Yep Stay clear of all catwalks and weather decks, due to high winds and heavy seas.

USS Independence 1977 Med Cruise.

That’s about it for today. Hope all is well with all our friends, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna……

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

I didn’t post yesterday even though it was my Birthday, I wish to again Thank all my friends out there, that sent Birthday Wishes, to FB and here on the blog. Now if I can just wake up breathing each morning for another year we’ll do it again.

Had a great day on my birthday, Donna was off all day and asked me if I wanted to go out and I said no I was happy just being home here and letting her relax, She did surprise me and ordered Imo’s Pizza for supper, so it was pizza & beer for my birthday.

Today (wednesday) has really been miserable with thunderstorms most of the day and a steady rain, supposed to continue like this into tomorrow. Both the pups don’t show any sign of the thunder bothering them, and believe me some of it was loud.

How about a couple of Navy pictures,

About 1967 a stormy day in the Tonkin Gulf.

F14 Tomcat just launched from USS America about 1991.

Both of the aircraft shown and the USS America have been long retired,the carrier was sunk in the Atlantic as a gunfire test, and is now a fish reef.

Not much doing around here with all the storms, hope all is well with all our friends out there. Be safe out there, Sam & Donna………